The modifier effect and property mutability

The modifier effect is the reduction in perceived likelihood of a generic property sentence, when the head noun is modified. We investigated the prediction that the modifier effect would be stronger for mutable than for central properties, without finding evidence for this predicted interaction over the course of five experiments. However Experiment 6, which provided a brief context for the modified concepts to lend them greater credibility, did reveal the predicted interaction. It is argued that the modifier effect arises primarily from a general lack of confidence in generic statements about the typical properties of unfamiliar concepts. Neither prototype nor classical models of concept combination receive support from the phenomenon

The inverse conjunction fallacy

If people believe that some property is true of all members of a class such as sofas, then they should also believe that the same property is true of all members of a conjunctively defined subset of that class such as uncomfortable handmade sofas. A series of experiments demonstrated a failure to observe this constraint, leading to what is termed the inverse conjunction fallacy. Not only did people often express a belief in the more general statement but not in the more specific, but also when they accepted both beliefs, they were inclined to give greater confidence to the more general. It is argued that this effect underlies a number of other demonstrations of fallacious reasoning, particularly in category-based induction. Alternative accounts of the phenomenon are evaluated, and it is concluded that the effect is best interpreted in terms of intensional reasoning [Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1983). Extensional versus intuitive reasoning: the conjunction fallacy in probability judgment. Psychological Review, 90, 293–315.]

Conjunctions of social categories considered from different points of view

Conjunctions of divergent social categories may elicit emergent attributes to render the composite concept more coherent. Following Kunda, Miller & Clare, (1990) participants listed and rated attributes for people who belong to unexpected conjunctions of social categories. In order to explore the flexibility in such constructions, they were also asked to adopt the point of view of a person in one of the two categories. Experiment 1 found that when adopting the point of view of one constituent category, people tended to combine the concepts antagonistically, meaning that they attributed to members of the conjunction the more negative aspects of the opposing category. Experiment 2 showed that this polarizing effect was reduced when the point of view category was itself unusual. Strong gender stereotype differences were also found in the degree to which combinations were antagonistic. Female stereotypes as points of view generated a greater degree of integration in the conceptual combination

Semantic memory redux: an experimental test of hierarchical category representation

Four experiments investigated the classic issue in semantic memory of whether people organize categorical information in hierarchies and use inference to retrieve information from them, as proposed by Collins & Quillian (1969). Past evidence has focused on RT to confirm sentences such as “All birds are animals” or “Canaries breathe.” However, confounding variables such as familiarity and associations between the terms have led to contradictory results. Our experiments avoided such problems by teaching subjects novel materials. Experiment 1 tested an implicit hierarchical structure in the features of a set of studied objects (e.g., all brown objects were large). Experiment 2 taught subjects nested categories of artificial bugs. In Experiment 3, subjects learned a tree structure of novel category hierarchies. In all three, the results differed from the predictions of the hierarchical inference model. In Experiment 4, subjects learned a hierarchy by means of paired associates of novel category names. Here we finally found the RT signature of hierarchical inference. We conclude that it is possible to store information in a hierarchy and retrieve it via inference, but it is difficult and avoided whenever possible. The results are more consistent with feature comparison models than hierarchical models of semantic memory

The Guppy Effect as Interference

People use conjunctions and disjunctions of concepts in ways that violate the rules of classical logic, such as the law of compositionality. Specifically, they overextend conjunctions of concepts, a phenomenon referred to as the Guppy Effect. We build on previous efforts to develop a quantum model that explains the Guppy Effect in terms of interference. Using a well-studied data set with 16 exemplars that exhibit the Guppy Effect, we developed a 17-dimensional complex Hilbert space H that models the data and demonstrates the relationship between overextension and interference. We view the interference effect as, not a logical fallacy on the conjunction, but a signal that out of the two constituent concepts, a new concept has emerged.Comment: 10 page

Do More Than Train New Nurses...Retain Them! A Qualitative Research Study

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to understand the orientation experiences of new graduate nurses and identify retention practices that are relevant and beneficial to the population of interest. Study participants were new graduate nurses employed at a five-hospital healthcare system. Using social constructivism as the theoretical framework, the study sought to answer the research question of what are the lived experiences of new graduate nurses during orientation? Ten new graduate nurses participated in individual interviews to discuss their personal orientation experiences. The interviews informed the researcher regarding the meaning and value new graduates place on their orientation experiences and what made them stay in their current position. Sessions were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. Findings of the research indicate that new graduate nurses continue to experience reality shock as they transition from student to professional nurse. During orientation, new graduate nurses desired tactile learning experiences to cement the knowledge attained in the didactic portions of their orientation. Additionally, they possessed a yen to work in a positive supportive unit culture. Nine of the ten nurses are still working on the nursing unit where they were hired to work as new graduate nurses. Future research regarding new graduate orientation and retention practices should focus on individuals who have vacated their first nursing position to evaluate how their orientation experiences may have differed from the study sample and if they have additional insight into effective retention practices

Impact of the lack of sleep on academic performance in college students

The purpose of this study was to research the effects that sleep has on a college student\u27s academic performance, measured by the student\u27s self-reported grade point average (GPA), and to examine whether there is a difference between graduate students\u27 and undergraduate students\u27 results. 136 students at Rowan University in southern New Jersey, 61 graduate students and 75 undergraduate students, were asked to complete a short survey on their sleep habits, demographic information, self-reported GPA, and average number of hours of sleep per night that they received. An independent Two-Way ANOVA was then performed to analyze the information indicating the following results. With a high significance the number of hours of sleep that a college student receives does have effect on their GPA. It was found that the more sleep that the student receives, the higher their GPA will be. There was also a high significance showing that graduate students reported a higher average GPA than did undergraduate students. However, the average amount of sleep received per night was the same between both sets of students and the researcher found no significance with the interaction of class level and sleep on GPA